The VDMA, the German plastics and rubber machinery association, has made its commitment to supporting circularity within the plastics industry at Fakuma.
Plastic litter
Managing Director Thorsten Kühmann travelled to the show to visit EREMA, Wittmann Battenfeld, KraussMaffei and Sumitomo (SHI) Demag and ask them about their approach towards closing the loop and why the Circular Economy concept has resonated with them.
The VDMA has put the Circular Economy on its action plan this year, holding plastics up as a valuable resource. At present, the material is considered a problem, particularly in the case of marine litter and yet its benefits are rarely discussed by the public. Moreover, recycling technology has far from reached its full potential. In order to square up to these challenges, machinery manufacturers have an important role to play.
The manufacturers of plastics and rubber machinery want to show that they take care of preserving resources – entirely in the spirit of the sustainability initiative Blue Competence. They not only aim to handle the material carefully, but they are offering processors economically attractive technology solutions.
"Fakuma offers a very good opportunity to present concrete applications which contribute to the success of circular economy," said Kühmann. "For us, Circular Economy already starts at the efficient production process. It is not only about saving material but also about energy efficiency. We also want to demonstrate what plastic recycling is already able to do and that high-quality products can be made from recyclate today."
The machine manufacturers see the future of a working circular economy in the interaction of all partners of the plastics industry, together with raw material producers and processors.
EREMA takes holistic approach
"I like to compare a functioning circular economy in the plastic industry with the symbol of interconnected gear wheels," said Manfred Hackl, CEO of the EREMA Group. "The integration of recycling in the existing process chain is only possible via communication – starting from the product design and ending with the production. We are also not exempt from the necessary active communication: the extrusion process, the core competency of EREMA, can neither be seen separately from the sortation or washing, nor from the desired final application made from recyclates."
Circular Economy as a concept, Hackl said, has gained economical importance in the plastics industry and especially commitment of those involved along the plastic chain. As the main driving force, he sees political measures like, for instance, the circular economy package of the EU; renown brands as role models; and initiatives, as, for example, that of Ellen MacArthur.
At Fakuma, EREMA has presented technologies that aim at increasing the quality of recyclates further to expand the spectrum for the sales markets.
The latest developments concern improvements of filtration, smell and will be complemented by smart applications. With an eye on the future, EREMA capitalises on holistic consultation to maximise the added value of plastics by process optimisation. EREMA is advising customers that need tailored recycling solutions from the initial idea to bringing the plant into service. Automisation, process optimisation and traceability will play an increasingly bigger role in this.
From recyclate to quality compound
At Fakuma, KraussMaffei Berstorff has demonstrated the recycling of plastic waste to high-end re-compounds. The model plant on display at the show was busy processing recyclates made, amongst other things, from polyethylene and polypropylene flakes to re-compounds.
"Up to now, two extrusion plants were needed to make a compound from a recyclate," said Carl-Philip Pöpel, Head of Product Management Twin-screw Extruders at KraussMaffei Berstorff. "Now, it is possible in one step. We forgo the intermediate step of the granulation of the regranulate. This not only reduces energy costs, but also thermal impact, since we only melt the recyclate once. This way, we can produce high-quality re-compounds for high-end applications."
Low input for big wins
As important as recycling is for a successful circular economy in the plastics industry, it is vital and worthwhile to look at the manufacturing process of plastic products, in general.
"We think of ourselves as machinery manufacturers that are part of a comprehensive cycle. We regard our main contribution as making as little input into the cycle as possible, to ensure a production that saves as much raw material as possible," said Georg Tinschert, CEO, WITTMANN BATTENFELD.
"We use the most modern drive technology in our machines – electric or servo-hydraulic – as a standard to keep the use of primary energy as low as possible. This effect gets increased by the additional use of our intelligent control engineering because it enables the use of released braking energy in the machine. We also offer technologies that help to reduce material use by manufacturing thin-walled parts, or, by replacing plastic with gas."
Stability and availability
Injection moulding machinery manufacturer Sumitomo (SHI) Demag also clearly bets on efficient drive technologies and low material usage.
"With our new generation of electrical injection moulding machines, we reach an excellent energy balance," said Gerd Liebig, CEO. "But that’s not all, the highly precise production process allows the production of complex technological parts with low waste ratio."
At Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, sustainability has been capitalised for a long time already, the company has been an active partner of the VDMA initiative Blue Competence for years.
"We consider the concept of Circular Economy as a good source of impulses on a way to more sustainability. For the entire value chain, our customers and, respectively, also their customers, it becomes increasingly important to already include the production process in the sustainability discussion," said Liebig.
"We as machinery manufacturers can contribute to improving the image of plastic. Also, by looking into customer requirements on processing recyclates, and by adapting our machines optimally to different materials."
